The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 of Japanese Patent Application No. JP 2001-183972 filed on Jun. 18, 2001, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a grommet which is equipped with an inner sleeve made of a resin, and specifically relates to a grommet that is mounted on the penetration hole of a car body panel which is assembled on a wire harness and which is wired in an automobile. The inner sleeve made of a resin holds a connector and is internally fitted to the inside of the grommet main body that is made of elastic. The grommet is installed by being hooked in the penetration hole of a car body panel via a car body-hooking hook.
2. Description of Related Art
With this kind of grommet, when a door harness which is wired to a door side is hung in the penetration hole of a car body panel through the penetration hole of a door panel, for example, the grommet 1 as shown in FIG. 8 is typically installed on a wire harness between the door panel and the car body panel. Located in the grommet 1 is an inner sleeve 3 that is made of a resin. The inner sleeve 3 stores and retains a connector 5 and is assembled into the inside of the enlarged tubular portion 2a which is provided at an end of the grommet main body 2. The grommet main body 2 is made of a rubber or an elastomer. The grommet 1 is designed to be hooked into the penetrating hole H1 of car body panel A with only one touch by inserting the locking hook 3a provided on the outer face of the inner sleeve 3.
Specifically, the above-mentioned grommet 1 which is hooked in the penetration holes H1 and H2 provided on the car body panel A and on the door panel B, has enlarged tubular portion 2c which is mounted in the penetration hole H2 of the door panel B and is located at one end of the bellows shaped small diameter tubular portion 2b of the grommet main body 2. The grommet main body 2 is continuously formed with the above-mentioned enlarged tubular portions 2a and 2c and with bellows shaped small diameter tubular portion. A hooking groove 2d is located at an outer peripheral face of the enlarged tubular portion 2c. The hooking groove 2d is designed to be fitted in the peripheral rim of the penetration hole H2 and to be mounted in a sealed condition.
The inner sleeve 3 is made of a resin and is hooked and/or internally fitted in the enlarged tubular portion 2a of the car body panel A side. Locking hooks 3a and 3b are used for hooking into the car body and are located at opposite positions on an outer face of the inner sleeve 3. The inner sleeve 3 slightly protrudes from the edge opening of the enlarged tubular portion 2a. The locking hooks 3a and 3b are passed through the penetration hole H1 and hooked on the peripheral rim of the inner face side of the penetration hole H1. In this way, the grommet 1 is fixed on the car body panel in a condition in which sealing is maintained, i.e., by adhering the seal lip 2f which was provided on the opening peripheral rim of the enlarged tubular portion 2a, on the peripheral rim of the outer face side of the penetration hole H1. The connector 5 is brought in contact with the end of the wire harness W/H (not shown) and the wire harness W/H is inserted and passed through the grommet main body 2 while the connector is assembled thereto by a locking connection which is located inside of the above-mentioned inner sleeve 3. A fitting portion 5a of the connector 5 protrudes from the edge opening of the inner sleeve 3 and is fitted with the connector (not shown) via the car body side through the penetration hole H1 of the car body panel A.
With the above-mentioned grommet, the work involved in installing the grommet into the penetration hole H1 of the car body panel A in the assembly line of an automobile will now be described. A locking hook 3a located on one side of the inner sleeve 3 is a fixation locking hook which protrudes from the edge of the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve 3. On the other hand, a locking hook 3b located on another side of the inner sleeve 3 is a movable locking hook and is provided at the edge outer face of the mobile piece 3d (see FIGS. 10A and 10B), i.e., between two side grooves which are notched in the peripheral wall. As shown in FIG. 9, when installing the grommet 1 in the penetration hole H1, the edges of the enlarged tubular portion 2a and the inner sleeve 3 are typically obliquely inserted into the penetration hole H1. In this way, the locking hook 3a is first firmly inserted into the penetration hole H1 and then it is hooked. Thereafter, the movable locking hook 3b is inserted into the penetration hole H1 by bending it, and then it is hooked.
When the grommet 1 is assembled on an automobile, the movable locking hook 3b of the inner sleeve 3, which is inserted later into the penetration hole H1 on the car body panel A, can easily be made flexible. Therefore, the lower the insertion force, the better the workability. In addition, it is preferable, in view of the lock retaining force and the lock feeling, that a hooking margin of the movable locking hook 3b be made as large as possible. However, the space in which the movable locking hook is bent should also be made large enough in order to accommodate this.
On the other hand, because it is preferable that the penetration hole H1 of the car body panel be made as small as possible, it typically approaches the size of the fitting portion 5a of the connector 5. As a result, as shown in FIG. 10A, the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve 3, into which the connector 5 is inserted, is sized to the extent that it is close to the outer face of the connector 5, but with a slight gap S1. Accordingly, when the mobile locking hook 3b is bent greatly, the movable piece 3d whose edge is provided with the movable locking hook 3b comes into contact with the outer face of the connector 5, which gives rise to a problem that the movable locking hook 3b can only be bent by less than about 8xc2x0.
The present invention was achieved considering the above-mentioned problems, and provides a space for adequately bending the movable locking hook of the inner sleeve without enlargement of the external shape of the inner sleeve, the enlarged tubular portion of the grommet main body which internally receives the inner sleeve, and the penetration hole H1 of the car body panel.
In order to solve the above-mentioned subject, the present invention provides a grommet which can be installed on a wire harness inserted into a penetration hole that is provided on the car body panel of an automobile. An inner sleeve made of a resin stores and locks a connector and is firmly stored at an enlarged tubular portion of a grommet main body made of an elastomer and equipped with an enlarged tubular portion at the edge of a small diameter tubular portion through which electric wires are inserted. A locking hook for fastening to a car body protrudes at an opposite position on the peripheral wall of the above-mentioned inner sleeve and protrudes from the edge opening of the above-mentioned enlarged tubular portion. The locking hook is a fixation locking hook that protrudes from the outer face of the above-mentioned peripheral wall. Another locking hook is provided on another side of the inner sleeve. This locking hook has a mobile locking hook that is located on the edge outer face of a movable piece with the movable piece being between two side grooves that are notched on the above-mentioned peripheral wall. By shifting the position of the center of a connector housing that is firmly stored and/or retained in the above-mentioned inner sleeve and the center of the above-mentioned inner sleeve, and also by pushing aside the center of a connector housing to the fixation locking hook side, a large gap is provided between the connector housing and the movable piece having the movable locking hook, and this allows the bending amount of the movable piece to be made larger.
As described above, when the center of the connector housing and the center of the above-mentioned inner sleeve are deviated, and the connector housing, which is stored in the inner sleeve, is pushed aside to the fixation locking hook side, the gap between one side of the connector housing and the inner sleeve can be enlarged, and the movable piece and the movable locking hook can thus be more greatly bent towards the connector housing.
Accordingly, this arrangement allows for a reinforcement of a lock retention force by the movable locking hook and also improves the lock feeling of the grommet.
Further, while a larger gap in which the mobile locking hook can be adequately bent is provided for, the outer shape of the inner sleeve is not made larger, and it is not necessary to enlarge the enlarged tubular portion of the grommet main body, and/or the penetration hole of the car body panel in accordance with it.
The peripheral wall of the above-mentioned inner sleeve is a rectangular or near square-shaped frame. The above-mentioned mobile locking hook and the above-mentioned fixation locking hook are located on opposite short sides and the connector lock portion is provided at the center on one of the long sides. The connector housing is designed to be connected in the inner sleeve and can be locked in the inner sleeve at a position that is deviated somewhat from a center of the inner sleeve, in a condition in which the connector housing is closer to the short side of the inner sleeve which has the fixation locking hook than to the short side of the inner sleeve which has the movable locking hook.
The invention therefore provides for a grommet for installing a wire harness into a penetration hole of a car body panel of an automobile wherein the grommet includes an inner sleeve made of a resin that is configured to store and lock a connector wherein the inner sleeve is firmly stored in an enlarged tubular portion. A grommet main body is made of an elastomer and includes the enlarged tubular portion located at one end of a small diameter tubular portion through which electric wires of the wire harness may pass. A fixation locking hook is provided for fastening the grommet to the car body panel wherein the fixation locking hook protrudes from an outer face of one side of a peripheral wall of the inner sleeve. A movable locking hook is arranged on another side of the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve wherein the mobile locking hook is arranged on a movable piece that is located between two side grooves arranged in the peripheral wall. Wherein, when the connector is locked in the inner sleeve, a first gap is provided between the peripheral wall and the connector on the side of the inner sleeve which has the fixation locking hook, and a second gap is provided between the peripheral wall and the connector on the side of the inner sleeve which has the mobile locking hook, such that second gap is greater than the first gap.
When a connector housing of the connector is locked in the inner sleeve, a center of the connector housing is offset with respect to a center of the inner sleeve, thereby allowing the movable piece to be bent towards the connector housing.
The invention also provides for a grommet for installing a wire harness into a penetration hole of a car body panel of an automobile wherein the grommet includes a grommet main body made of an elastomer including an enlarged tubular portion located at one end of a small diameter tubular portion through which electric wires of the wire harness may pass. A connector is provided having a connector housing. An inner sleeve is made of a resin and is configured to receive the connector housing. The inner sleeve is retained within the enlarged tubular portion and includes a fixation locking hook and a movable locking hook. The fixation locking hook is arranged on one side of inner sleeve and the movable locking hook arranged on another side of the inner sleeve. A first gap is provided between the connector housing and the fixation locking hook. A second gap is provided between the connector housing and the mobile locking hook. The second gap is greater than the first gap.
The invention also provides a method of installing the grommet into a penetration hole of a car body panel of an automobile wherein the method includes installing the wiring harness in the grommet and hooking the inner sleeve into the penetrating hole so that the enlarged tubular portion engages the car body panel.
The invention also provides a grommet that includes a grommet main body including an enlarged tubular portion located at one end of a small diameter tubular portion through which electric wires of the wire harness may pass. An inner sleeve is retained within the enlarged tubular portion and includes a fixation locking hook and a movable locking hook. The fixation locking hook is arranged on one side of inner sleeve and the movable locking hook arranged on another side of the inner sleeve. A first gap is provided between the connector housing and the fixation locking hook. A second gap is provided between the connector housing and the mobile locking hook. The second gap is greater than the first gap.
The grommet may further include a connector having a connector housing. The inner sleeve may be configured to receive the connector housing. The inner sleeve may be made of resin.
The invention also provides for a method of installing the grommet into a penetration hole of a car body panel of an automobile wherein the method includes installing the wiring harness in the grommet and hooking the inner sleeve into the penetrating hole so that the enlarged tubular portion engages the car body panel.